www.kamloopsthisweek.com
THURSDAY, September 18, 2014
B3
COMMUNITY
When you’re making less than a living wage JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
K
amloops’ top cop Supt. Brad Mueller resorted to drugs — and I didn’t eat for a month. It was the result of an exercise conducted by the United Way last week. For purpose of the poverty simulation, I was 25-year-old Jack Jolly. Recently out of jail, I was living with my unemployed girlfriend and her infant child in a mobile home she was renting to own. Our home needed repairs, as did my car, and I was paying a loan and child support while trying to support us all. Lisa Gamel, who works with victim services for the Kamloops RCMP, was my girlfriend. We started out with $400 in assets, some transportation passes, social-insurance cards and a bit of cash. “Ding.” The first week began and my first obstacle was getting to work. I needed five transportation cards per week — just for work — and I would have to spend the majority of my “15-minute days” earning my paycheque. Right away, it was apparent how important it was for us to work together because I needed most of our transportation just to get to work that first week. But, I made it to work on time, had my time card stamped and put in my hours — errr, minutes — before receiving my paycheque. Now that work was
over, I needed to cash the cheque, purchase more transportation passes, buy food and pay bills — before heading home for the weekend to spend time with my family. I arrived at the bank in good time and stood in line, waiting patiently with others while contemplating my pay. I had $166 to support three of us? With my GED, I made $9.75 an hour for working 34 hours per week. It meant my pay was $1,326 per month. After taxes, it was reduced to $1,165. That amount shrank again to $665 per month after it was automatically reduced each pay period for child support. The list of bills was daunting after realizing my income was meagre. Rent, utilities and loan payments chewed up most it, leaving me with $88.13 per week — to feed, clothe and support the three of us. The math was correct, but none of it seemed right. “Ding.” Closed. While standing in line at the bank, United Way’s executive director Brenda Aynsley, who was also a bank teller for the simulation, shut down the financial institution. The situation was phoney, but my stress was real. While racing home to my girlfriend, I felt my blood boil for the wasted time. We used all of our weekend to make a plan for the coming week. “Ding.” I opted for a chequecashing store and sacrificed part of my pay for faster service, taking
DAVE EAGLES/KTW Judy Batty of the Kamloops United Way helps facilitate a poverty simulation on Thursday, Sept. 11, at Interior Savings Centre. More than 130 people participated and volunteered during the event.
The reality of poverty After the simulation, the United Way shared information about poverty in Kamloops. I learned that the living wage in the Tournament Capital — the wage of “just getting by” — is $18.34. I had been making about half that during the simulation. Other information it shared: • 120 people are on a wait list in Kamloops for affordable housing. advantage of multitasking options before heading to work. The service fees were hefty, but I was able to purchase transportation tickets, which my girlfriend also
• About 99 people are living on the street in Kamloops. • The Rent Bank has given out 30 loans in a year in Kamloops. • About 6,000 people were served by the Kamloops Food bank last year. • B.C. has the highest child-poverty rate in Canada. • 100 children in Kamloops are using the Boys and Girls Club Power Start program, where they
needed, before rushing to work. I felt grateful to cash my cheque and make it to work on time, especially when a co-worker didn’t — due to dropping the kids off at day
are picked up, given a ride to school and fed breakfast in the morning. The program is maxed out and demand is greater. • One in three people in Kamloops will likely experience a mental-health problem in their lifetime. • It costs $55,000 to provide services to someone living on the streets in B.C. and $37,000 to keep them in supported housing.
care — and was fired. I spent the remainder of the simulation in a repetitive loop, trying to manage work and bills and never getting anywhere. I was dizzy from
— Jessica Wallace the rat race. Play time wasn’t even a distant option. Life’s randomness threw a wrench into the mix, too, when my girlfriend got sick. Another time, she
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had to sell some of our possessions to a pawn shop. All around me, others had it worse, too. One co-worker tried bringing their baby to work, but was told to leave because our workplace had no child care. One co-worker’s family tried to visit on a lunch break to get money to pay their bills, but they were turned away because we don’t get lunch. One of my co-workers was evicted from their home. Some people — like Mueller — resorted to illegal activity such as drugs and crime. It was Week 3 when I realized I hadn’t bought groceries during the entire simulation. And I still didn’t have the time to eat. I told my girlfriend, “I’m going to go to work and then I’ll eat after.”